2 die after automobile slams into tree, light pole

July 27, 2007

SOUTHWEST SIDE — Two men died late Wednesday night after their car slammed into a light pole on Chicago's Southwest Side and ripped in two, police said.

The men were in a 1996 Hyundai northbound on Pulaski Road just before midnight when the car left the road and struck a tree before hitting the light pole near 45th Street, Officer Amina Greer said. According to witnesses, the driver of the Hyundai got out of the crumpled car and ran east on 45th, she said.

One of the dead passengers was identified Thursday morning as Juan Estrada, 34, of the 4100 block of West 24th Place, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The other passenger remained unidentified. They were pronounced dead within minutes of each other at Mt. Sinai Hospital.